NEW MILFORD — The 7-year-old boy pulled from a private pool in New Milford Tuesday has died.

The child never regained consciousness after being pulled from the water by adults at a party on Eastern Lane, said New Milford Police Lt. Larry Ash.

He died at approximately 8:15 p.m. Thursday at Connecticut Medical Center in Hartford where he had been transported by Life Star Tuesday, Ash said.

The boy’s name was not released. He was a foster child from New Milford in the custody of the state Department of Children and Families, police said.

DCF spokesman Gary Kleeblatt said Thursday that the boy’s name was withheld, “out of respect for the family.”

The boy had been in foster care in “a therapeutic foster home licensed by a private agency,” Kleeblatt added.

DCF Commissioner Joette Katz expressed “deep regret and sorrow” Thursday over the child’s death in a prepared statement.

“The loss of a child is an incomparable one,” Katz said. “Our hearts go out to the boy’s family.”

Katz said the birth family and foster family were together with boy at the hospital around the clock and were working together to support one another and the boy. DCF staff was also at the hospital, Katz said.

“I want to recognize the remarkable way the birth and foster families were together at the hospital, supporting one another over these last days,” Katz said. “I also want to thank our staff and the medical team.”

New Milford police are investigating the incident as well as DCF. Katz has ordered that a special review be conducted. Kleeblatt said this often happens with an open case.

New Milford Police are waiting for results of a medical examination for the official ruling regarding the cause of death.

Leading Foster Care Lawyer Seeking Justice For Victims of Abuse

Abuse perpetrated by an authority figure is an appalling reality for far too many children and adolescents  across the country. Foster care parents, teachers, day care workers, and other trusted adults who negligently supervise children ruin lives and cause irreparable psychological damage and death.

The individual foster care parent can be tried as a criminal, but can rarely be held financially accountable. His or her sponsoring or employing organization—the foster care agency, or other public or corporate entity—may be liable for its failure to adequately supervise and screen the foster care parent.

For more than 20 years, trial lawyer Gary A Kessler has represented children and adolescents abused by trusted foster care parents. Our law firm has the resources and the professional will to thoroughly investigate, prepare, and present abuse and foster care negligence cases. We take systematic depositions from the victim and his or her psychotherapist, from psychiatric child abuse experts, from any witnesses, and from the perpetrator’s supervisors and organizational leaders. We seek to reveal all relevant facts and evidence, to establish psychological harm, and to demonstrate fault within the organization where appropriate.

No monetary amount can compensate for the damage that foster care abuse causes. However, damage awards can be powerful financial incentives for foster care parents, foster care agencies, schools, and other organizations to screen and monitor their employees who regularly interact with children and teenagers. Adequate financial compensation can also defray the cost of long term psychotherapy and psychiatric care.

Throughout our personal injury practice, we devote our full personal attention to every case that we accept. We believe that effective representation in child foster care abuse cases requires not only exceptional legal skill, but the ability to respond to psychologically damaged children and outraged parents. If you or a loved one has experienced foster care negligence or abuse by a person in authority, please contact our law firm today.